5 top tricks and tips: bravery in creative design

Brave might be one of the design world's favourite words, but how do you actually go about it? Dave King, (Design Director at StudioLR.) believes in practicing creative bravery on a daily basis, and what's more, his D&AD Masterclass 'Bravery in Creative Design' gives you the confidence to step out of your comfort zone and challenge your own design work. Here, he shares his top tips for getting in a more brave state of mind.

Brave creative work works. If your work is eye-catching, thought-provoking and memorable, then your clients will reap the rewards. But bravery and fearlessness are not the same thing. Fear is an innate response. It never goes away and you can’t control it. Bravery is the choice to act despite fear. It’s not a personality trait that some people have and some don’t. It’s a discipline, a choice, a skill. You can learn bravery.

The shortcut to bravery is to be yourself – it’s easy to make brave decisions when you’re genuinely passionate. Find the bit of the brief that makes you feel something. Then try to bring that emotion and humanity into the work, be vulnerable and honest. People can feel genuine emotion.

Doing something new is inevitably risky, it could fail spectacularly, but the potential reward is huge. All successful creative work starts with a risk. But it’s never as big as the risk of doing something safe. Clients aren’t buying an output (like an ad), they’re buying an outcome (like sales). If you make something bland that nobody notices, they might as well just burn their money.

Everything is easier once you get going. Try to replace perfectionism and doubt with curiosity and playfulness. Make fun of your comfort zone – enjoy the mistakes and the shit bits, laugh at them, share them, look for the good in them. And always do the worst thing on your to-do list first thing in the morning… your day can only get better.

You have to fight for great work. So many great ideas get diluted and ruined. No great work gets out without someone doggedly standing up for it. If nobody takes responsibility for that fight then the outcome is always going to be mediocrity. Remember, if a client doesn’t get your idea, it’s your fault not theirs.

There are no rules & there’s no limit to how brave you can be. You’re allowed to have fun and make people laugh. Most of the best ideas start with “but we can’t show that to the client can we?” Try to present work that’s so fun you almost feel like you shouldn’t be getting paid for it.

Once you develop your confidence and practice bravery, it becomes part of your everyday approach. You won’t think you’re being brave but your work will get better. What’s the worst that could happen?